Music

“Say Anything” Revisited: John Cusack Joins Peter Gabriel Onstage

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In a moment that surprised and delighted Peter Gabriel‘s fans, actor John Cusack waltzed onstage, old-school boombox in hand, at Gabriel’s show at The Hollywood Bowl in L.A. Saturday night, as Gabriel’s band began playing “In Your Eyes.”

For those unfamiliar with the significance of the moment — which would be pretty much anyone who wasn’t of movie-going age in 1989 — Cusack played Lloyd Dobler in the Cameron Crowe film Say Anything, and in an iconic scene from the film, stands outside of his love interest’s house holding his boom box over his head, as it plays “In Your Eyes.” On Saturday night, Cusack handed the boombox do Gabriel, who held it over his head, Dobler-style.

(Peter Gabriel/photo credit: Timothy Norris)

Gabriel is currently wrapping up his Back To Front: So Live tour. The shows have three sections: first, he plays some stripped down versions of songs from his catalog (during the stripped down set, there’s barely any lighting or stage production). Then, he plays a more “plugged-in” set of his material. After that, he plays his 1986 classic, So, in its entirety. The encore features some more non-So tracks. Gabriel is reissuingSo in several different formats on October 23, including a deluxe box set and a straight single CD edition.